Tag: Strachan House Care Home

Singing Out at Strachan House!

Care home residents form new community choir

Residents and guests at Strachan House Care Home in Blackhall are looking forward to hitting the high note with their own community innovative choir.

Working with a local charity Forget Me Notes the choir hopes to engage their intergenerational community and create a group where the affected by Dementia have a place to still express themselves through music and song together. 

Local residents from Strachan House Care Home will practice many a varied song that allows them to take a trip down memory lane. The Choir will get together once a month with people from the community joining in and all performing together.

The Blackhall Primary School choir will also come along making it a great session of intergenerational fun too.

The idea came about when Mandy Head of Activities at Strachan House made contact with Alan the founder of  Forget Me Notes, a local charity that engages those affected by Dementia and other conditions in offering group music and song came together to discuss building a choir from a care home into the community.

“We want to demonstrate that being in a care home doesn’t mean life stops. In fact it’s just getting started. Our aim was to promote inclusion, and invite our community to have the opportunity to be part of something special.

“The choir is an arm that reaches into the community and touches those affected by isolation or loneliness and delivers a safe network of friends and support.

“This choir literally hits all the right notes!”

The choir practice will be held every second Friday of the month at 10.45am at Strachan House and will be open to all who would like to come along.

The hospitality team at the home will also provide a spread of sweet and savoury treats for guests to enjoy during their get together.

Alan said: “We are really looking forward to being part of this new and exciting project.”

General Manager, Gordon Philp said, “Our residents and guests always love a sing along together, so we are very proud of this new innotive and welcoming everyone from our community to join in our choir” 

Strachan House care home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides residential care, nursing care and dementia care for 83 residents from respite care to long term stays.

Christine Jardine joins Strachan House for Big Coronation Picnic

Local care home Strachan House has had a week full of royal themed activities but the fun didn’t stop there. They hosted The Big Coronation Picnic event yesterday (Sunday 7th May) for their residents, family friends and their entire local community.

In attendance was local MP Christine Jardine who kindly accepted her invitation to unveil a rose bush in memory of the late Queen Elizabeth ll after her son King Charles lll take the royal crown on Saturday 6th May.

 Christine Jardine spent the afternoon chatting with everyone who attended the event. Enjoying everything Strachan House had to offer Christine explained “It has been a lovely afternoon I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my visit. Chatting with the residents and staff has been lovely. Such a wonderful home and the amount of support was outstanding.” 

Mandy, Head of Activities, said: “Our residents have had a fantastic week on the run up but this event demonstrated that community spirit is very much alive and judging by all who attended it was prevalent that Strachan House is a very special place in our community.

“It has been a whole home approach to ensure our residents had a fantastic coronation. Having our local MP Christine Jardine accept our invitation was a testament to how valued we are within our community.”

Paul Dow, Head Chef at Strachan House, said: “It was an amazing day and an honour to cater for our local community and an absolute pleasure to showcase what we have to offer here at Strachan House.

“It’s certainly an event I won’t forget in a hurry!” 

Gordon Philp, General Manager at Strachan House said: “We have been overwhelmed with the support and community spirit throughout our celebrations of the Kings Coronation, it has been such a special occasion for everyone not to mention our residents. 

Our staff have gone over and above to ensure Strachan House and everyone who lives and works here have had a spectacular day. To have so much continued local community support truly humbling.”

Bernard Saltmarsh, resident at Strachan House added: “it was an honour to meet Christine and have my picture taken with her.

“We even had the sun come out for the afternoon which was a big relief to what the morning was like!”

Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities.

Strachan House is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides nursing care, residential care, respite care.

Coronation celebrations fit for a King at Strachan House

The excitement was is in the air at Strachan House Care Home in Edinburgh this week as residents and staff notch it up a gear to celebrate the coronation of our king in a right royal way.

Throughout the week on the lead up to the big day, Strachan House has a week full of royal themed activities from baking up red, white and blue cakes to intergenerational fun within their local community with Cargilfield Nursery and Blackhall Primary.

“The week will certainly be one we remember” said Mandy, Head of Activities.

Paul Dow chef at Strachan House said: “Baking up an array of cuisine will be great fun and certainly ensure it will be fit for a king! It has been a whole team effort ensuring we are ready for the King’s Coronation on May 6”.

Staff and residents at the home put their heads together and came up with a week-long plan of royal activities for their residents. Over the bank holiday weekend the home will hold afternoon tea whilst screening the Coronation live.

On Sunday 7th May at 2pm they are hosting The Big Picnic in their wonderful gardens and will play host to the entire Blackhall community as they open their home to friend’s family and staff.

With live music from Diane Fields a BGT contestant as well as the local councillor, Christine Jardine, it is set to be an outstanding day for everyone who plans to attend.

Armed with picnic baskets and rugs resident, families, staff and local visitors are invited to join us for an afternoon sharing in the wonderful atmosphere.

All you need to do is bring your picnic and a rug and enjoy a afternoon amongst friends.

Gordon Philp, General Manager at Strachan House said: “We are looking forward to a brilliant time celebrating the Coronation, it is such a momentous occasion.  Our staff and residents love the Royals and so they are all so excited about the upcoming week. 

“It has been a real collaborative process – thinking about how we want to celebrate, from planning our activities, decorating the home and creating an event for our whole community to join in”. 

David Lesueur, resident at Strachan House said: “I can just about remember the Queen’s Coronation, I was very small but I remember the street party we had then and this will be just as much fun. 

“We all want to pay our respects to the new King and create new memories, it is such an important occasion to mark.”

Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities.

Strachan House is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides nursing care, residential care, respite care.

Spreading Positivi-tea! Care home hosts Tea Dance on National Tea Day

Strachan House care home in Blackall celebrated in style, by brewing up a wonderful afternoon for National Tea Day yesterday with a Community Tea Dance afternoon.

Supplied with a tasty selection of biscuits, sandwiches, cakes, and of course, teas for the event, residents and their families of Strachan House had an amazing afternoon together. 

Gordon Philp, General Manager at Strachan House said: “In these unprecedented times with the cost of living, providing a range of community events for our local community and their families is more important than ever.

“Our residents really enjoyed the choice of teas, cakes and events for National Tea Day, and as a nation who truly loves their tea, it was great excuse for an afternoon brew and a natter”. 

May Lesueur, a wife of a resident at Strachan House said: “It was a lovely afternoon, and I love a cup of tea so it was a wonderful combination to end the week on.

“And it was lovely for the families and staff join in too. They always take such good care of us.”

 Strachan House is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides 83 beds for nursing care, residential care, and respite care.

AND THEY’RE OFF! Strachan House sprinters are jumping for joy

Residents and staff at Strachan House care home in Edinburgh enjoyed celebrating the Grand National last week when the released their own Strachan House sprinters, which joined in a fitness session on Friday 14th April.

Sadly despite our residents putting them through their paces our horses never made it to the big one on Saturday! 

Residents and staff got together to watch the races, and celebrated in style by having an afternoon of fitness and music which entailed not only two race horses joining us but a good old friend Mr T Rex. Mr T Rex is also a firm favourite with the residents and has made a few guest appearances in the past. As always it was hilarity from start to finish. 

Mandy Head of Activities said “we are always finding different fun ways to keep our residents active and engaged and this was certainly a fun way to end the week. Everyone wanted a sneaky dance with Mr Rex not to mention the fun exercise session that our horses demonstrated.

!Sometimes you just have to have some out right fun and laughter and this afternoon certainly had everyone jumping for joy!”

Gordon Philp, General Manager at the home, said: “We’ve had a fantastic time celebrating Aintree’s Ladies Day, it is such a great session and we all had fun cheering on the horses and jockeys as they joined in the getting fit with the residents – although that Mr Rex was eyeing up one of horses as a tasty snack!”

Moira Ingram, a resident at the home, commented: “I love the staff when they dress up, it is such a fantastic spectacle and I’m sure the laughter could been heard in the streets. 

“I haven’t got a clue about horse racing, but it certainly was comical to watch!”

The varied life enrichment programme at Strachan House keeps residents active and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities.

Strachan House is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides nursing care, residential care, respite care.

Coronation celebrations fit for a King!

BIG CORONATION PICNIC at STRACHAN HOUSE

Excitement is in the air at Strachan House in Blackhall where residents and staff will be busy making Coronation-themed decorations and baking up a storm of red, white and blue cakes and pastries by head chef Paul Dow in preparation for the King’s Coronation on May 6th 2023.

Staff and residents at the home have put their heads together and came up with a plan to host a celebration fit for a King.  Over the bank holiday weekend the home will hold The Big Coronation Picnic on the 7th May from 2pm-4pm. The whole home will come together to host their event to the local community to celebrate with friends, family and local business’s the Coronation of our new King.

The event will see Diane Fields a Britain’s Got Talent contestant entertain us with live music within our wonderful kept garden grounds as well as a visit from local MP Christine Jardine who will be unveiling a Queen Elizabeth ll rose bush to commemorate her late reign HRH on her own sons coronation.

Everyone in the local community is given an open invitation to come along and join us for what is set to be an amazing afternoon. All you need to do is bring along your picnic and a rug and enjoy an afternoon with friends.

Beverages such as tea, coffee, wine and a selection soft drinks will be made available courtesy of Strachan House on the day.

Gordon Philp General Manager at Strachan House said “we are all looking forward to a celebrating the Coronation, it will be such a momentous occasion.  Our staff and residents love the Royals and so they were all so excited to host this event. 

“It has been a real collaborative process – thinking about how we want to celebrate, planning our activities, decorating the home and creating an event that we can give back to the community.  It’s so lovely to be able to invite our friends and family to come and join us for a proper celebration too.” 

Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities.

Strachan House is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides nursing care, residential care, respite care.

Bill’s Patch: Care home resident gets his own piece of happiness

Strachan House Care Home resident, Bill Lathe had dreamed of being able to garden again so staffed teamed up with a local boy Struan Dow who helped Bill out with his wish to make it come true. 

Bill has lived at Strachan House for several years and is oved by staff and residents alike. Staff and Struan were delighted to be a part of making his dream come true, as they knew how much it meant to him and they all wanted to be there to see the smile on Bills face. 

Staff first found out about Bills wish through their active activities program. Mandy, Head of Activities, said “Bill has always had a love of gardening and when we were a contacted about a local boy Struan needing to complete his JASS project it made sense to pair the two up by surprising Bill.”

JASS is the junior programme for the Duke of Edinburgh awards and Struan needed to undertake his silver award. This meant he was tasked with having to complete a 12 hour project. A student in class 6HD at Erskine Stewart Melville School, meant that Struan gave up his Easter break to work on the project.

He said: “When I heard of Bill’s wish I knew I could combine my project with his wish, so I decided to spring into action and build Bill an accessible herb garden box and present it to him within the gardens at Strachan House.

“I was so happy to see Bill’s face and was so happy to be part of something special for him. To know that my herb box will be appreciated and go to good use is awesome!”

Mandy Head of Activities added “What and amazing young lad Struan is and he should be proud of his hard work. Bill is over the moon!” 

In response to this wonderful surprise, Bill said: “I was overwhelmed. It is such an amazing feeling to know that the youngsters still look out for us and care so much.

“I’m really grateful to Struan and the team for making my wish come true. I can’t wait to get planting my herbs for the use in the kitchen”

Gordon Philp, General Manager at the home, said: “We want everyone we care for to know how important they are to us here at Strachan House. It was so nice to see how happy Bill was and the staff loved being a part of this as well.”

Strachan House care home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care homes and hospitals.

Strachan House provides residential care, nursing care and dementia care for 83 residents from respite care to long term stays.

Hop To It! Local Care Home residents host Easter Bunny Hunt

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Strachan House care home have been having fantastic fun hiding Easter bunnies all over the place in the Blackhall community for local children to find.

The staff and residents decided to challenge local children to find 12 Easter bunnies that have been hiding in all kinds of different locations all over town.  The children then had to write down the number of each bunny and where they had been found in order to take part in the Easter Bunny Hunt.

General Manager Gordon Philp said: “We’ve all had such fun first of all hiding the bunnies and then receiving the entry forms from all the local children. 

Our residents have had a wonderful time reading all the entry forms and deciding the winners of the Easter bunny hunt.  Of course, all the children were winners in our eyes!”

Alice Kholer, a resident said: “I loved taking part in the Easter bunny hunt, it was such a lovely idea and we were so happy to be able to give Easter surprises to all the winners.  I think the children all had a great time too,” 

Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities. 

Strachan House is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides nursing care, residential care, respite care.

Local Care Home goes quackers at Easter surprise!

 Strachan House care home in Blackhall is full of fluffy mischief on the run up Easter period!

Residents at Strachan House were pleasantly surprised to see 5 duck eggs arrive on the 4th April just in time to see them hatch for Easter. Children and relatives all throughout the day watched with the residents together as they witnessed the tiny lives come into the world.

Mandy Head of Activities said: “Sharing moments like these together on an intergenerational level is so touching.

“Making and sharing memories young and old is something we cherish here at Strachan House” 

General Manager Gordon Philp said: “Our residents have really enjoyed their unusual visitors at Strachan House.  We knew that having the hatchlings here would be a bit of fun for all our residents, especially as some find it difficult to go on many outings in our minibus. 

“We are always looking for new activities for the residents and over the Easter period we have seen the enjoyment and the therapeutic influence that the ducks have had on our residents. We can’t wait to see them grow.”

Resident Alex Laird was very excited and touched by watching the ducklings hatch: “As a child I used to love all the animals on the nearby farm.

“Easter has been so very enjoyable so far and it has been wonderful to be part of something special watching new little lives come into the world at Easter.”

Strachan House care home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care home’s and hospitals. 

Strachan House provides residential care, nursing care and dementia care for 83 residents from respite care to long term stays.